African-American History

In I863 the then-named Colored Cemetery on Veeder Avenue was moved to Vale Cemetery. The city was rapidly expanding at that time and people were taking sand and other materials for building purposes, which uncovered the graves. Alonzo Paige, a local attorney, paid to have the graves moved.

Initially called the "Old Colored Plot," this section was renamed the African-American Ancestral Burial Ground. Eighty-one people are buried in this section with interments continuing to this day.

The African-American Ancestral Burial Ground is the scene of Vale's annual Juneteenth Celebration commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of slavery. In coordination with the Hamilton Hill Arts Center, Vale Cemetery proudly presents a program of song, dance and oratory.

Notable African-Americans buried at Vale include:

R.P.G. Wright, presided over the 1841 Convention of Colored Inhabitants of the State of New York and was a lifelong advocate of education for African-Americans.

Rev. Isaac Groot Duryea was a co-founder in 1836 of the Anti-Slavery Society at Union College. Prior to becoming a Civil War chaplain, he founded the first black church in Schenectady.

Margaret Robinson, born a slave, died at the age of 108 and was the last Schenectady resident to witness the American Revolution.

Moses Viney

At rest in the African-American Ancestral Burial Ground is Moses Viney a runaway slave from Easton, Maryland. Eventually settling in Schenectady, Viney became a close friend and confidant of Eliphant Nott, the president of Union College. Viney's story is unique in that it is so well documented and contains one of the very few detailed descriptions of the Underground Railroad route through the area.

With the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which allowed slave owners to reclaim runaways, Viney fled to Canada and remained there until Nott, an abolitionist, could negotiate his freedom in 1852. Viney rejoined Nott and Union, becoming a well-known figure on- and off-campus and a constant companion of Nott during the President's final years.

More information:
The Odyssey of Moses Viney